Meeting other Model S owners on the road - do you wave?

[kjwcanary]

In the 3 months I've had my Model S, I've passed 5 other Model S's. To me, it seems natural to wave at the other driver; we have a relatively rare car, and I believe (hope) that most people bought the car for the same reason. Thus, I feel there should be some kind of community around the Model S. That said, my 5 waves have produced two last second (seemingly) grumpy responses. The other three people (all in Seattle BTW) have not waved at all. In each case, I am certain they saw my car with plenty of time to make a response, but chose not to.

This makes me somewhat sad. I used to love driving in my friends VW bug when I was in college, with every other bug owner waving back - it really seemed that there was a community around that car. I was hoping (expecting) the Model S would be similar.

So....question for the forum:

Do you wave if you see another model S on the road?

 

[Zythryn]

Yes, I do every time I see one.
I would say you are making a number of assumptions, of which I suspect all are wrong.
How do you know they saw you in plenty of time to respond?
Why do you assume the last minute responses were "grumpy"?

When I am driving, I am focusing on the road, and location of vehicles, not their particular model. The lights, if on, are very distinctive, but there are a number of vehicles similar enough to the S that a casual glance won't necessarily allow you to differentiate.

 

[StephRob]

Yes, I always wave, give the thumbs up, flash my brights (during daylight hours), or something. Sometimes I get a response, but sometimes (usually) not. Some of my best responses have actually been from Roadster drivers. Around here (Marin County CA) I usually see another S or Roadster almost every day.

 

[spatterso911]

I usually give a "thumbs up".


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[scooterrr]

I will begin waving (somewhat frantically) after I pick mine up in three hours - so if you see me in Seattle, you have one more waver.

 

[Doug_G]

I'll wave... but I have yet to encounter another Tesla randomly while driving. (And only once while parked.)

 

[radinator]

I wave too. Sometimes I get a response, sometimes not. It kind of reminds of me when I got my MINI Cooper in 2004, when the majority of MINI owners would wave to each other. Same sense of community, but more so.

 

[strider]

I wave at Roadsters and Model S's. I'm usually in my Roadster. I nearly always get a return wave. I have had a few clueless or grumpy drivers though. I just tell myself that these kinds of drivers (former Audi, BMW, MB) are the ones Tesla needs to build a successful business. There aren't enough TMC fanatics to support the whole company

 

[Rifleman]

For what its worth, I wave at every other EV I pass, be it a Volt, Leaf, iMiev, or Tesla. Granted, they are still pretty rare in my part of the country, and if I see more than 2 a week, it has been a busy week. I get a response about 10% of the time.

 

[smorgasbord]

I'm usually in my Roadster. I nearly always get a return wave.

Out of dozens of encounters and waves, only 1 Model S owner has waved back at me in my Roadster. Most act oblivious. As Strider says about non-wavers, I agree.

 

[MikeC]

I waved the one time I saw one and got a wave back. I think a lot of the people not waving back may be less observant or have slow reflexes...

 

[Monsoon]

If they don't wave back, it's because they were looking at something on the 17' touch screen.

 

[inottawa]

For sure ill be waving/throwin' guns/winks/whatever!

I'll wave... but I have yet to encounter another Tesla randomly while driving. (And only once while parked.)

I'll start driving through the 'haven more often in a couple weeks

 

[kinddog]

the one time i saw another Model S while driving mine, I showed some boob. :redface:

 

[jpasqua]

I've owned a couple of Corvettes over the years (favorite was a '66 coupe) and owners always wave. In fact, the Corvette Wave rules are:

1. There is no excuse for not waving at your fellow Corvette owner
2. Whoever sees the other Corvette first, starts the wave
3. Rules 1 and 2 apply to both sexes
4. Any type of wave is okay
5. A late wave is better than no wave

I will probably wave out of habit if nothing else.

 

[GeekGirls]

I always wave, or grin, or otherwise acknowledge my fellow Tesla owners when it's safe to do so. I'm sorry your experience so far hasn't been positive, but I've generally found my fellow owners to be a friendly bunch. We just finished our first road trip from the Bay Area down to San Diego and back, and found folks at the superchargers to be eager to engage as well ... and it's a good thing given the crowd we encountered at SpaceX on the way home! Nine cars when we arrived.

In future I would encourage Tesla to place the superchargers outside of major cities. Harris Ranch is an ideal example, and it was gratifying to see that construction is underway on the expansion there.

 

[mknox]

Do you wave if you see another model S on the road?

I would if I ever saw one. The only Model S's I've ever seen on the road around here were at the Get Amped event last summer, at the Tesla store in Toronto and at an EV Club meeting I attended. Mine seems to draw almost no attention. I've had only one guy ask about it when he flagged me down at a red light, and some kids at a local college when I was there as a utility representative for a sustainable building class.

 

[Todd Burch]

One day I'll see another in SE Virginia, and I'll wave.

 

[jayfrost]

Having driven a jeep (CJ7, Wrangler, Wrangler Unlimited) for the better part of 20 years, I always wave at other jeeps. Over the years the response is probably 80% wave back. Today while driving my Model S (that I have had for about 24 hours) I accidently waved to a jeep! And they waved back. I am fairly certain the Model S is quite rare in Columbus Ohio as my service center manager wasnt able to recall any other Model S delivered to a Columbus address. So I may have to stick to waving at Jeeps.

 

[carrerascott]

One day I'll see another in SE Virginia, and I'll wave.

Same with Central Virginia. I know they're out there, just not at the same time, it seems.